My trial balloon just crashed to the ground. (You know, that "balloon" you send out to see which way the wind is blowing).
Knowing The Causes and Risk FactorsI had just received the call from Virginia Mason Breast Center that I'd been awaiting for three days. I had just picked up my nieces from school and, of course, the call came then.
Over the previous weeks, I'd had what was to be my last mammogram (they stop as a matter of course, in your late '60s). I received a call for retest. This wasn't uncommon for me-fibrous breasts run in my family, so I'd had retests before. This time they wanted me to go the Breast Center downtown, instead of my center in Lynnwood. They'd seen something "suspicious." OK.
I went on the appointed date and time. It came back suspicious again, so they wanted to do an ultrasound right then. OK. This time I saw the lumps. Still not worried. I'd had lumps before that were benign.
Symptoms and Protected Measures for Breast Cancer
"Let's do a needle biopsy."
"Do we have to? I've been down this road before and I know it's nothing."
"Yes. We want to be sure."
OK.
The Funny Part of Cancer
Back to the Breast Center the following week. I must say, things have improved since the '80s when I'd had what I lovingly refer to as my "hatpin needle biopsy". It was SO painful and difficult and insensitive, that I wasn't looking forward to it at all. This was so much better. Trahn, my ultrasound tech, worked closely with Dr. Morgan, my radiologist, to make me comfortable and talk me through the procedure. AND they used numbing injections so I was pretty comfortable.
After 3 hours, I left, again unconcerned. Of the 3 sites they were researching, only one showed the calcifications they were looking for.
The call with the results came in just a day and a half. Seems the tissue samples of 2 of the sites showed none of the calcification and the other site had benign tissue samples. I knew that, Ollie! It wasn't there. Nothing has ever been there.
"We want to do one more test. We call this the "Jiffy Lube test." Well, at least that sounded like fun!
"We'll put you on an exam table with holes in it for your breasts. The radiologist works on you from beneath to get a better sample of what we are looking for. You'll have a mammogram in that position and we can see much more (which does beg the question, "Why didn't they do that the first time?" But I digress).
Unlike all of the other tests, the call with the results didn't come right away. I was told I'd get the call within three business days-in this case that would be Thursday. I expected it Tuesday; then Wednesday and, of course, it came at the most inopportune time, Thursday afternoon about 4.
"Hello."
"Katie?"
"Yes."
"Can you talk for a few moments? This is Maya at the Virginia Mason Breast Center."
"Sure." I had my nieces, 12 and 10, in the car. I wanted to know the results right away, so I sent up my trial balloon.
"I'm driving."
"Why don't you get to somewhere that you can park and call me back?"